Tarantula (1955)

From the video case: Biochemist Leo G. Carroll has a plan to feed the world by using a growth formula on plants and animals. But instead he creates a spider of mammoth proportions with an appetite to match!

Feeding off cattle and humans, this towering tarantula has the people of Desert Rock, Arizona, running for their lives. Can this horrible creature be stopped? Or will the world succumb to this over-sized arachnid? Starring John Agar as the good doctor and Mara Corday as a student, and potential victim, of this science experiment gone awry! (1955, b&w)

John Agar is at his best as Dr. Matt Hastings, a young country doc trying to unravel the bizarre happenings in his small desert community. Mara Corday plays Stephanie ‘Steve’ Clayton, an aspiring scientist and love interest for Dr. Hastings. This is my favorite role for Mara Corday. She plays the part with sophistication and charm, and can scream with the best of them.

You may also recognize B-movie regular Hank Patterson (Monster on the Campus, Beginning of the End) as Josh, the hotel clerk. I always remember him as Fred Ziffel from the tv series Green Acres. He is used primarily as comedy relief in this picture.

Of course, the main draw of the film is the giant tarantula created by Clifford Stine (The Deadly Mantis). I’m still impressed with the special effects of Tarantula. The giant arachnid is effectively creepy and menacing, and quite convincing even by today’s standards. The scene where it emerges from the dynamite blast is one of my favorite B-movie scenes of all-time.

Share this:

Like this:

Related

5 Comments

i love this movie. mara corday is H-O-T…like a cross between raquel welch and gina gershon! she would later have minor roles in clint films such as sudden impact. in clint’s the rookie a clip of this film is shown. jack arnold is a great director. to me, however, he suffered a fate worse than ed wood…he would direct episodes of not one, but two different, series created by sherwood schwartz! john agar could have/should have/ become a leading man based upon his performance in this film. the spider is impressive!

One cannot mention the amazingly beautiful Mara Corday without bringing up THE GIANT CLAW! She was sexy, and beautiful and also a Playboy Playmate! But watching her deliver her lines in THE GIANT CLAW is fantastic. It’s as if she knows the movie is going to have the most ridiculous monster in the history of b-movies. Brilliant.